By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
CONNEAUT — A national travel plaza company has confirmed it has again delayed construction of a $6 million operation at Conneaut’s Interstate 90 interchange.
Work on the Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores, which had been slated to start next month, now may not begin until 2010, said spokesman Christine Dukeman.
A “project redesign” of the site is needed and will take a few months to complete, Dukeman said. By that time, winter will be approaching, so construction could wait until the following year, she said.
“I know it’s not the best of news because this project has been delayed before,” Dukeman said.
But she also emphasized the company has not abandoned the project.
“It is still confirmed and on the schedule,” Dukeman said. “We own the land.”
The announcement comes nearly one year after Love’s announced the first delay, then blamed on the economy and rising fuel prices.
The site, in the southwest corner of I-90 and Route 7 , is being redesigned, Dukeman said. “Our architects and engineering folks are working on it,” she said.
Their work may not be finished until late summer or early fall, a time frame that could bump up against the onset of winter. For that reason, construction could wait until 2010, Dukeman said.
The operation will include a convenience store, gift shop, two fast-food restaurants as well as fueling facilities for tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles. It’s believed the business will employ around 30 people.
Planning for the Love’s operation began a few years ago, when city leaders lobbied the Ohio Department of Transportation to allow an access road to the site off Route 7. Local and county permits for the project were secured in 2007.
Dukeman said she understands the community will be disappointed at the news, but emphasized the project is just “a little bit on hold.”
“There will be a Love’s Travel Stop,” she said.
